{"id":1796,"date":"2021-02-05T18:14:30","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T10:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.segikl.edu.my\/?p=1796"},"modified":"2023-06-06T10:07:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T02:07:53","slug":"a-brave-yet-scary-new-world-the-pandemic-how-its-affecting-teenage-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/a-brave-yet-scary-new-world-the-pandemic-how-its-affecting-teenage-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"A brave yet scary new world – the pandemic & how it’s affecting teenage mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

The twenty-first century dawned upon us all with much promise and expectation.\u00a0 It was supposed to have been the dawn of an era of amazing technology and incredible human advancement.\u00a0 And in many ways, it has <\/em>been.\u00a0 It was all going nicely, actually, until the COVID-19 came along in 2019 and struck fear into all of us, young and old, rich and poor, brown, yellow, black and white, sparing none.\u00a0 And then suddenly, here we are, fear-stricken adults terrified about losing our livelihoods, our savings, our families, yes, and also about losing our lives.\u00a0 If we, autonomous adults as we\u2019d like to think ourselves, can feel that<\/em> afraid, imagine what our young must be thinking and how they must be feeling.\u00a0 We must never take the feelings and fears of our children for granted.<\/p>\n

Our first babies born in the twenty-first century in the year 2001 turn nineteen this year.\u00a0 They might well be practically adults, but they\u2019re still teenagers by right, and they\u2019re almost certainly as confused about the current world crisis and as afraid of how this pandemic might impact their future as we are, if not much more so.\u00a0 Add to them all the little ones born after them in the twenty-first century.\u00a0 Those are even younger and even more vulnerable.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s of crucial importance, then, for us as the adults and protectors of our young, to step up and give these very precious young people all the moral support we can to help them make it through these very uncertain times.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what we can do<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Make yourself approachable<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Some of us as parents are too embroiled in our daily grind that when we get home from work, all we want to do is kick off our shoes, sink into the couch, put our feet up on the coffee table and zone out for an hour or two.\u00a0 Granted.\u00a0 We need our rest after having toiled all day making money for the family.\u00a0 But these first hours at home are probably the best times for our children to come to us with their feelings, their problems, or even just to sit with us and feel safe and loved in our presence. \u00a0So the next time you get home from work, right before dinner time, go and find your children first and let them know you\u2019re home and there for them if they need you.\u00a0 It will without a doubt mean just as much to you as it will to them.\u00a0 Our children have feelings just as we do.\u00a0 And even more than we are, they\u2019re vulnerable, and without knowing how to handle these feelings which could be very dark and very threatening, their very lives could be on the line. Do not<\/strong> miss the signs.<\/p>\n

Listen with your heart<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once your children have sensed that you\u2019re approachable and that you won\u2019t bite their heads off if they come to you even when you seem bogged down after a hard day\u2019s work, it\u2019s time for you to exercise your powers of thought and detection, of sensitivity and empathy.\u00a0 Being there for them isn\u2019t nearly enough.\u00a0 Not by a long shot.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to listen to your children and hear what they have to say.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t mean simply listening to what happened in their day or what stories they have to share with you.\u00a0 Listen to what they have to say to you from their hearts, and listen with your heart, and when you do, even if their true feelings are shrouded in innuendoes, you\u2019ll be able to pick up on what they\u2019re actually telling you from the very bottom of their hearts.\u00a0 You are the parent after all.\u00a0 Listen, because it could be a craving for your love and affection, it could be a call for a certain action, or it could even be a cry for help.\u00a0 Do not<\/strong> take teenage depression for granted.<\/p>\n

Reassure and encourage <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The COVID-19 has rendered the entire world victims at its mercy \u2013 the relentless, faceless enemy.\u00a0 Even as you yourself are uncertain and afraid, do not let this show on your face when you\u2019re with your children.\u00a0 As parents and protectors, it is our very job to assure and reassure our children that they are loved and that you\u2019ll do everything you can to make sure that nothing happens to them, and that they are safe for as long as they listen to and obey you and follow the rules.\u00a0 Be living examples to your children and follow all the rules and procedures to keep yourself and your family safe.\u00a0 Do not <\/strong>make light of the situation or deride the government\u2019s directives, whatever they might be.<\/p>\n

Build resilience<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Change comes to everyone.\u00a0 A wise man once said that nothing in this world is for certain, except change.\u00a0 Just as you are adapting to change, educate your children about and familiarise them with the ever-changing present.\u00a0 As much as you want to protect them from their fears, burying the truth under a string of platitudes or burying your heads in the ground like an ostrich will help no one.\u00a0 Acknowledge and accept reality as it is, and teach your children that this is the new normal.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s normal for us to not shake hands, to not high-five, to not hug.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s normal for us to wear masks whenever we leave the house, to consistently sanitise our hands, to stand at least a certain distance from the next person.\u00a0 \u00a0And remember to tell them that if they do this, and follow the rules, they will eventually conquer the odds – even against this deadly virus.\u00a0 Do not <\/strong>allow them to give up their strength of spirit.<\/p>\n

And while you\u2019re at it, all this advice about what to say to your children, say them to yourselves as well.\u00a0 In our hearts, we\u2019re all of us a little (or a lot) like the children we have, like the children we were, like the children who live inside our hearts.\u00a0 But take heart, have courage, and all will be well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The twenty-first century dawned upon us all with much promise and expectation.\u00a0 It was supposed to have been the dawn of an era of amazing technology and incredible human advancement.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[76],"tags":[105],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1796"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20682,"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions\/20682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colleges.segi.edu.my\/kualalumpur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}